If your son or daughter has suffered a serious injury, do you know what kind of pain medication they were given? If you don't it turns out you're not alone.

(Brian Chase, ThinkStock)
(Brian Chase, ThinkStock)
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A new study conducted by the Farleigh Dickinson University PublicMind Poll finds two out of three New Jersey parents would support a law requiring them to be notified if their child's medication contains a potentially addictive medication. Ninety percent said they would like to be informed if there are alternative medications available.

So why aren't parents just asking their kid's doctor these questions in the first place?

"In many cases, parents are not aware of how some of these drugs can become very addictive, so there is an educational process that we are all a part of in the state of New Jersey," said Angelo Valente, the executive director of the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey.

He said this awareness is critically important because "we have learned that many young people begin their addictions as a result of a prescription drug that they had been prescribed to by a doctor. They might become addicted to an opiate based medication, and in some of those cases it leads to the addiction of heroin abuse."

Valente stressed parents need to find out about "the potential addictive qualities of the medication their children about being prescribed, and secondly, they may want to look at alternatives that may be available."

He said in some cases there are alternatives available - but it's a discussion that needs to take place between parents and the doctor treating their child.

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